1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of waste treatment systems and methods therefor, and more particularly, is a system and method for bio-cultural reproduction and a system and method of growing and applying super concentrated bio-cultures, including enzymes and bacteria, to waste and waste byproducts to accelerate their breakdown, reduce the toxicity thereof, and/or enhance bio-gas production.
2. Description of the Related Art
In nature, microbial or bacterial action in organic waste products takes place at a constant rate varying only due to temperature and moisture. The microbial action spoken of here is produced by, without being limited to, bacteria, enzymes, and other grown bio-cultures or bio-chemicals. In manmade waste sites, the microbial action is also dependent on the local environmental conditions present, temperature and moisture, in and around the waste materials. The operators of most manmade waste sites desire an accelerated microbial action however in order to reduce decomposition time, reduce toxic effects etc. Therefore, in order to accelerate the microbial action in manmade waste sites, most operators use a bio-remediation, or bio-augmentation, program. Bio-augmentation is the addition of concentrated bacteria or enzymes targeted toward a specific waste, accelerating the natural breakdown of the waste. By formulating a balanced mixture of bacteria in proper ratio for a particular application, an improvement over nature occurs. Since much of the waste today contains elements that the indigenous bacteria in a given system are not capable of degrading, even when invigorated with the addition of probiotic nutrients, a bio-augmentation program is utilized. In addition to much faster degradation, the selected bio-cultures can also retard the production of many of the gasses produced by the process of decomposition. Hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, both of which can be deadly in high concentrations, are major sources of odor. Both of these byproducts can be reduced through bio-augmentation with specific bio-cultures. Additionally, some bio-cultures can even optimize the production of other byproducts, such as methane and hydrogen, should a bio-gas recovery program be desirable.
Most bio-remediation programs rely on periodic additions of bio-cultures which enhance the microbial action in the waste. Typical programs call additions of bio-cultures from once a day to once a month or longer. However, the bio-remediation programs currently available have problems and drawbacks. As these bio-remediation programs rely on manual methods for the addition of the bio-cultures, the optimum level of microbial action in the treated waste target is very difficult to achieve. This is because the reliance on memory and physical labor to add the necessary bio-cultures often lead to failures to add either enough of the desired bio-cultures, or to add the bio-cultures frequently enough to maintain an optimum level of microbial action. Additionally, most bio-cultures today come in a form which has a limited shelf life, and/or is not at an optimum strength or characteristic due to non-ideal shipping and storage conditions.
Therefore a need existed for a system and method of growing bio-cultures having optimized strengths and characteristics, and thus also making storage conditions moot.
Additionally, a need existed for a system and method of adding bio-cultures to wastes on an automatic programmable schedule, and in pre-programmed quantities.
An object of the present invention is to provide a system of growing bio-cultures having optimized strengths and characteristics and a method therefor.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system of adding bio-cultures to wastes on an automatic programmable schedule, and in pre-programmed quantities and method therefor.
In a preferred embodiment, a system for reproducing and dispensing bio-cultures for bio-augmentation is disclosed. The system for reproducing and dispensing bio-cultures for bio-augmentation, comprises: a bio-culture solution breeding tank; waste-digesting bio-culture additive placed into the bio-culture contact tank; nutrient additive placed into the bio-solution breeding tank; a bio-culture solution metering pump coupled to the bio-culture solution breeding tank; an aeration pump coupled to the bio-culture solution breeding tank; and a control system coupled to the bio-culture solution metering pump and coupled to the aeration pump.
In another embodiment, a system for reproducing and dispensing bio-cultures for bio-augmentation is disclosed. The system for reproducing and dispensing bio-cultures for bio-augmentation comprises: a bio-culture solution breeding tank; an aeration pump coupled to the bio-culture solution breeding tank; a bio-culture contact tank coupled to the bio-culture solution breeding tank; waste-digesting bio-culture additive placed into the bio-culture breeding tank; nutrients placed into the bio-culture breeding tank.
In yet another embodiment, a method of reproducing and dispensing bio-cultures for bio-augmentation is disclosed. The method of reproducing and dispensing bio-cultures for bio-augmentation comprises the steps of: providing a bio-culture growth chamber; providing waste digesting bio-culture for addition to the bio-culture growth chamber; providing nutrients for addition to the bio-culture growth chamber; providing a pumping and metering system coupled to the bio-culture growth chamber; providing an aeration pump coupled to the bio-culture growth chamber; and pumping the waste digesting bio-culture from the bio-culture growth chamber with the pumping and metering system and adding the waste digesting bio-culture to the wastes and waste byproducts.
The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following, more particular, description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.